Love Actually director says he feels 'a bit stupid' about movie's lack of diversity

Love actually might be all around, but that doesn't mean it's properly represented in Richard Curtis' holiday classic — at least, according to him.

The Emmy award-winning writer and director acknowledged that, in hindsight, he wishes he could change certain elements of his romantic comedy, in particular the diversity of its characters.

"There are things you'd change but, thank God, society is changing, so my film is bound, in some moments, to feel out of date," Curtis said in a interview with Diane Sawyer for ABC's new 20th-anniversary special The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later.

"The lack of diversity makes me feel uncomfortable and a bit stupid," he continued. "You know, I think there are sort of three plots that have sort of bosses and people who work for them."

Peter Mountain/Universal Studios Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon in 'Love Actually'

While each of the film's 10 separate love stories focuses on a different facet of love, only four of them feature actors of color. Their romances are often subverted (see: Karl and Sarah) and, in the case of Chiwetel Ejiofor's character Peter, weirdly interrupted by a best friend knocking on the door in the middle of the night and confessing his love to his friend's wife. (Not cool, Andrew Lincoln.)

Curtis is right when it comes to the film's proclivity for workplace relationships. The movie contains at least three: Prime Minister David (Hugh Grant) and staff member Natalie (Martine McCutcheon); graphic designer Sarah (Laura Linney) and creative director Karl (Rodrigo Santoro); and manager Harry (Alan Rickman) and his secretary, Mia (Heike Makatsch). And even more if you count musician Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) and his manager, Joe (Gregor Fischer), coworkers John (Martin Freeman) and Judy (Joanna Page), and Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz) as Jamie's (Colin Firth) housekeeper.

"There is such extraordinary love that goes on every minute in so many ways [in life], all the way around the world, and makes me wish my film was better," Curtis said. "It makes me wish I'd made a documentary just to kind of observe it."

Curtis isn't the only creator who has recently addressed the issues of diversity in his earlier work. Last year, Friends co-creator Marta Kaufmann admitted that her hit NBC show's casting was "a product of the time period and of my own ignorance."

Still, the director maintained that films like Love Actually can shine a much-needed spotlight on what he thinks is truly important in life. "Films can act as a reminder of how lovely things can be and how there are all sorts of things which we might pass by," Curtis said, "which are, in fact, the best moments in our lives."

The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later is streaming now on Hulu.

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